Farewell To The Fairground
by agent-of-fear
Summary: Cali Quinzel has the curse of being compared to her elder sister and being branded with the disturbing nickname 'Little Quinn'. Sure, she hangs out with Riddler, but that doesn't mean she's going to start calling him 'Mistah R', does it? But in Arkham City, it's the two of them together in his pokey little hideout. And, annoyingly, Cali likes it that way. Riddler/OC
1. From The Ritz To The Rubble

_Takes place after **Asylum **but just before the events in **City. **Don't expect facts to be dead on , although I did do a fair bit of research. _

* * *

**Farewell**** To The Fairground **

**Chapter One:**

_**From The Ritz To The Rubble**_

* * *

_But now the haze has ascended_  
_It don't make no sense any more_

From The Ritz To The Rubble - Arctic Monkeys

* * *

Tucking her blonde hair into the collar of her orange jumpsuit, Cali hurried across the wet, sodden road and suppressed the urge to just _push _herself out into the open and see what Arkham City was really like.

The Docs always said that she should suppress urges like that - they weren't good for her at all. Urges like that got her into stupid situations like getting a tattoo of a question mark on her right butt cheek (Edward would _never _let her live that down, drunk or not) or her brief substance abuse or, she supposed, teaming up with the likes of The Riddler. These things were always followed by the pleasure of _finally _committing the act and then, sometimes, the guilt.

The Docs called it _Impulse Control Disorder._

Cali called it _one of the many._

Cali's mind was like a pond, with lots of different fish jumping around in it. But then, sometimes, you got a tadpole, a frog, a toad, a dragonfly - all different, yet all living in the same place. One of the Docs told her that to help her understand why they were always diagnosing her with different things and claiming that _wait no that can't be right_. She had more misdiagnoses than actual diagnosis's.

Cali's eye caught a green question mark at a wall further down the road and she followed it, biting back a quick grin.

She pushed herself against a grimy wall, ducking low and listening to the echoing shouts in the distance. The night sky was alight with artificial light and the air was filled with the sounds of pain, torture and happiness - hell, she'd gotten chucked into Arkham a week after Riddler found her, and that was two years ago, back when she was sixteen. She was _used _to sounds of pain and torture.

Cali knew that she should find Riddler quickly. More and more of the Arkham inmates had been spilling into the run down, isolated part of Gotham named Arkham City. And so, here she was, fresh in her Arkham jumpsuit and ready to find her boss. She thought about maybe finding Harley, but knew that _Mistah J _wasn't too fond of his Harley's not-so deluded sister.

She couldn't understand why Batman hadn't snapped the loons neck long ago. The guy cared far too much about justice and doing what was right - he'd had _tons _of opportunities to just _kill _Joker and be done with it, so why hadn't he? Cali didn't understand that. She didn't understand why Batman hadn't ended it all.

But she couldn't think about that now. She needed to survive, to stay away from the dangerous inmates and the traps and the TYGER guards. She needed to hunt down any clues that Riddler would have left her - because Edward, well, he would know that she would be here soon. Since last being separated when they had been caught during the rebellion at the Asylum, she hadn't seen him since.

Stuff like that made her angry. Why couldn't she see him? Just like how Harley and Joker were separated - wait, _no. _She was _nothing _like her doting, doe eyed sister. She would _never _look at Edward the way Harley looked at _J. _She _hated _it when people said things like, 'those Quinn's and their Rogues, huh?' The _Intermittent Explosive Disorder _that she may or may not have tended to get bad in those moments. It was then that the Docs would calm her down and tell her to strum at the elastic band around her wrist.

It left marks sometimes, but it helped.

Arkham City was slowly becoming wetter and wetter with the downfall of light, soggy snow falling onto the ground. The snow had been on and off - Cali had seen it from her cell window.

She wondered - as her eyes caught the glow of green, neon paint - whereabouts Harley and Joker were. She hadn't seen her sister since a joint therapy lesson that had the two of them reminiscing about their mothers blood shot eyes and how it had felt for Cali to finally stab her mother in the back. But that was years after Harleen had turned into Harley and Cali had finally _snapped _at their Ma's verbal abuse about the eldest Quinzel.

That's why she had left her home and ran into Edward.

Harley's _face _when Cali had been thrown into Arkham is something that she'll never forget. '_Eddie, look at what you got my little sis into!' _Harley had left with Joker when Cali was thirteen, but as she walked through the doors at sixteen, Harley had beamed with pride. '_Hope ya didn't make her too _borin', _huh?' _

Not boring, no. But _better._

She was right. The green paint _was _a riddle, and a hard one at that.

_Lighter than what I'm made of,  
More of me is hidden than is seen.  
What am I?_

Shit.

Cali closed her eyes tightly, being sure to lean heavily against the wall so that none of the other inmates would see her as she tried to figure out the riddle. Of _course _he would test her. He must have stuck this up near the entrance because he knew, eventually, she would make her way through it.

Light? Maybe the wind then. But the wind was always completely hidden - never seen at all. That couldn't be right then. Her temper was peaking, and that was never good. She'd only had _three _really bad fits of rage. And, yeah, okay...maybe she'd killed her Ma during _one _of them, but that ice cold bitch had deserved- wait..._.ice_.

_Lighter than what I am made of_.

Hidden. Beneath the water. An _iceberg! _Brilliant. The Iceberg Lounge. She _knew _she could do it.

'I see you've figured it out then, judging from your look of _triumph._ It took you long enough'. His voice was perhaps one of the most recognizable things to her, but she knew he wasn't in that alley with her. He'd often set up audio and webcam feeds to places that he wanted to see - it seemed Edward and been waiting for her.

'I've had a stressful day'.

'An _infant _could have figured it out faster. But, I suppose, you did so in the end'.

Cali was used to such insults from him, so they really meant nothing to her any more. 'Iceberg Lounge? I heard that's where Penguin was. You with _him?'_

His voice was haughty when he spoke - like always. 'It is. Do not _insult_ me, I am not holing away with that _man. _I am merely _near _there. I will not say exactly where, which is why it is prudent for you to meet me there. Now'.

Cali rolled her eyes. 'On my way now'. She stepped back, eyes glancing up at the looming wall to try and find any clue of a glinting camera. Alas, nothing appeared. She wasn't surprised - Edward would hide it efficiently.

'And Cali?' She stopped, turning her head to show her attention. 'Do try not to die in the short time that it will take you to reach your destination. I know that it may be hard for you'.

The smile that appeared on her face was hardly _amused._

* * *

From what she saw of Arkham City as she slipped through the shadows was that it was a mess of a place, with broken things and shattered places. This place - this decay of a City - was all they were worth.

She saw goons, and she hid from them all. Even Joker's men, who she knew wouldn't even _try _to hurt the Little Quinn (a name that Cali _hated _and Edward grimaced at) in case of Harley finding out. If Harley was upset about Cali's death, Joker would probably punish those who upset her in an attempt to shut her up. Cali saw some of Two Face's men as well, but everyone else seemed to be hidden deep into the confines of the City.

She wondered where trouble was brewing, and whether Strange would be behind it. She _knew _he was up to something, and hell if Edward didn't too.

'-Hear Joker's hiding out in Amusement Mile with Harley. Betcha he's plannin' something big, like back at the Asylum-'

Cali slipped away from the conversation quickly, glad to know where her sister was hiding. She wouldn't bother going for her yet, mostly because she couldn't bare to see Joker and the way he would sneer at her.

She'd smiled when she she'd seen the various glowing question marks slapped onto walls and tiles, but not quite knowing who they were for. She'd have to ask Riddler when she saw him. It was almost _exciting, _to know that she could see him after months of confinement and having the constant company of those in the cells around her.

When she'd first arrived at Arkham, she was low priority, but every time she came back she was put in a more secure and secluded cell. Soon enough, she'd be with the _Rogues_. On one hand, she'd have Harley, on the other, she'd have _Hatter. _He was on another level of annoying - more so than Riddler and Joker _combined._

Cali hoped she wouldn't run into Crane. Even though she was a mere block from the Iceberg Lounge, the thought of running into that maniac had her walking just a little bit faster and anxiety on full force. She'd never been on the receiving end of his toxin, and she'd be more than happy to not start now.

The cane came out from behind the corner so quickly, that Cali had trouble keeping her balance and suppressing the surprised yelp. It was green and chipped and she _knew _it was his.

'Come _here,' _he snapped, gloved hand grabbing hold of her forearm and pulling her back toward him. Cali slid behind him, going to rub her sore leg but stopping once he turned to her, glasses glinting and green bowler hat in place. It was times like this that she had to repress the stupid smiles that he'd roll his eyes at.

He looked older, his suit dirtier and his eyes sharper with paranoia. Still, though, his cane was extended toward her in an extension of himself, ensuring that she would not move. '_Running _isn't exactly the inconspicuous manner I had in mind for your travels here'.

Cali made a _tsk _sound. 'I wasn't _running. _Don't exaggerate'. She spied out his green eyes, his fingerless gloves, the oh-so familiar question marks. 'I had to break someone's wrist before they deemed me too much of a nuisance and sent me here. I came as quickly as I could. I promise'.

Her strong impulses that made her want for doing or saying something were sometimes a godsend. Otherwise, she would never say such things to him, and part of her wanted him to know that she was very loyal to him. Sure, she thought he was a narcissistic asshole, but he was still her boss, of sorts.

He looked, for a moment, as if he would smile. 'I assumed as much. Now, come. I don't want my hideout to be _spied _out'. He went in front of her, leading her away from the lit up Iceberg Lounge and continuing down the steps. They were quiet, cautious, two pairs of eyes working together.

How Cali had _missed _it.

Once they got passed the electric fence and through the doors, Riddler _deemed _it safe for them to talk while he checked on his many screens in the glowing green light. The place was poky and stuffy, but Cali knew that she would grow used to it. She always did.

'What's been happening, then?' Cali questioned, pushing aside a green question marked object with a peculiar look and then focussing back on Edward. With a creak of the table, she plopped onto it. 'I noticed Strange is up to something'.

'If _you_ noticed it then it _must _be quite obvious'. Cali glared while he took the trophy from her side with a tight jaw and careful fingers. She'd ask him what it was later. 'He's been taking patients - forgettable patients, but patients nonetheless - and destroying their minds and free will with the help of Jervis Tetch'. He settled the question mark away from her, safe from prying fingers.

Cali swung her legs out, catching him short as he paced. '_Hatter?'_

'Indeed. It seems Jervis's mind control techniques are of use to Hugo Strange, as he slips the ex-warden his own _special_ medication'. He looked to Cali, spying out her reaction. She knew very well that he adored the reactions of others as he spilled out his carefully found information.

'He's controlling Sharp?'

'Precisely. Keep up, now'. Riddler was quiet for a moment, his head turned away, though Cali could still see the tightness of his jaw and the hard grip he had on his cane. He got angry too sometimes and, like her, he was never really very good at hiding it.

'Edward?'

She leaned forward a little, hand curled around the edge of the desk to spy out his face. The computers hummed, the green light glowed. Edward twitched his face toward her, green eyes peering upward in an annoyed gesture, capturing her curious gaze. He breathed in tightly for a moment.

'He knows who Batman is'.

Cali leant back quickly, eyebrows shooting upward. '_How?' _

He put on his haughtiest voice yet, an air of bitterness and anger surrounding him as he straightened up. 'Strange created a psychological profile of the man most likely to fit Batman. _Child's play_, he called it. How could he - such a blithering _idiot - _find out the true identity of the _Bat _before I, The Riddler! The mere thought of it is ludicrous-'

'I don't know,' Cali admitted, more upset than anything. And she wasn't saying it to reassure him, she _honestly _did not know. Edward...he _was _a genius, and Cali had always assumed that he would, one day, find out who the Bat really was. Maybe...maybe she had admired his abilities a little too much.

Maybe she was more like Harley than she knew.

The thought had her toes curling and the chain around her stomach clenching. In an attempt to defer the conversation from a topic that had obviously been eating as his enlarged ego in her absence, Cali posed another question. 'How's the spying on the rest of the inmates going?'

May as well stroke his ego to make him feel better.

He turned to her, standing before her with his cane balanced underneath both hands. She stilled the swinging of her legs, hating that she got all pathetic when he turned so fully to her. Edward was above such basic, animal feelings - but Cali, she was eighteen. Perhaps that was why Gothamites would sneer and grimace at the professional attachment the two had to one another. They would always assume she was another Harley Quinn, that she was just like her big sister: she was the Little Quinn, of _course_ they would.

'I have spies dotted around the City. We are safe from any imposing threats - I will know before they have a chance to attempt an attack'.

'Okay. That's good'. She chipped her nails along the edge of the table, aware that he was looking at her, aware that she couldn't possibly tell him she'd missed him. 'How's my sister - heard anything about her?'

'Joker is planning something. I just _can't _understand _what _yet-' He stopped short, narrowed eyes on Cali's strumming fingers. 'Will you _stop that?'_

She did. 'Do you have anything I can wear?' she piped up suddenly. 'Do you even have a _bed _in this place, or a _shower?' _They'd stayed in smaller places than this, but even then Cali would have access to clean clothes and a decent nights sleep.

Edward stepped back, his question mark cane pointing up to a set of stairs at the end of a narrow corridor. 'Up those stairs you will find four doors. The first on the right is the bathroom, the second on the left is the bedroom. Soon, you will begin to miss the luxury of the Asylum, I assure you'.

Cali hopped off of the desk. '_Luxury? _Be realistic now, Edward'.

'There is no hot water, no cleaning supplies, and the only clothes are the ones I have worn previously'. Something akin to a smile tugged at his face. 'Enjoy and welcome to Arkham City'.

* * *

**And yet another OC Fanfiction. I believe I have a problem. **

**Hope this suffices and that Cali fits in with the story line. I do love a good incorporation of a character into a story. Cali's thought process might be a little wishy washy sometimes, but I do make it so on purpose. She is insane, she is a little coo-coo. Some things may not make a whole lot of sense, but gaps will be filled, I promise!**

**A review would be lovely!**


	2. Royals

_Takes place after **Asylum **but just before the events in **City. **Don't expect facts to be dead on, although I did do a fair bit of research. _

* * *

**Farewell**** To The Fairground **

**Chapter Two:**

_**Royals**_

* * *

_And we'll never be royals (royals)_  
_It don't run in our blood_  
_That kind of lux just ain't for us_  
_We crave a different kind of buzz._

Royals - Lorde

* * *

Riddler wan't lying when he'd said that Arkham City lacked a certain kind of luxury.

The bathroom was an open floor shower on grimy tiles, a mere box of a room with a square toilet and a sink attached to the wall. There were no windows, and there was no hot water. The only warm place in the hideout seemed to be the downstairs, green lit room.

After her cold shower, Cali dug into the draws of the bedroom with it's peeling walls and brown stained ceiling, grabbing anything she could get her hands on. In this case, a pair of jeans and a green suit jacket to put over the white shirt she already wore. Feeling infinitely cleaner, she made her way back to Riddler, whose head was bowed over his glowing computer screen with his fingers tapping away at the keyboard.

'I noticed all of the traps dotted around on my way here. They for anyone specifically?'

Edward leant back in his seat, turning to her and catching his hand on the back of his chair. 'Batman'. Cali furrowed a brow. 'Strange is planning something with Batman, and if the Bat comes _here...'_

_Then you'll _try_ to kill him and_ try_ to expose him all over again,_ Cali thought. _And you'll get beaten up and humiliated all over again. You're becoming a joke, Edward. More so than the Joker. _'Is that what all the trophies are for, again?' Riddler nodded, turning back his computer screen and staring at it for a moment. 'You're testing him. Again. You think it'll work?'

His shoulders hunched. 'Don't ask stupid questions'.

_Of course. _

'Do you want any help with the trophies?' Riddler eyed her once again, his stare more wry than anything. 'What? Quit lookin' at me like that, I helped you back at the Asylum. How else would'ya have got those trophies everywhere if not for me, huh?'

'In your anger you sound, regrettably, more and more like your foolish sister. It is understandable in such times that you are called the _Little_ Quinn-'

'Shut up, _Eddie-'_

'You _dare_ to-' He cut himself off this time, opting to smack her calve with his very _hard _cane, relishing in the sound of Cali's annoyed and pained yelp. He smiled quite smugly at her. 'As I was _going _to say before; I do not need your help because _I_ have already placed the trophies around the City. Your help is not needed, but I thank you for the offer'.

'You _thank _me?' inquired Cali. 'You feeling okay?'

'_Quite'. _He stood from his seat, brushing away the imaginary dust._ '_Your constant emission of words from your speech makes you sound even more unintelligent. Do not present yourself as such when you are known to be in my company and, quite evidently, when you are not as unintelligent as one might think'.

'Your charm never fails to astound me, Edward,' Cali replied dryly, suppressing the feeling of flattery at his back handed compliment. But that was how he taught her. He knew very well that she would react and follow what ever he said, merely because he did not agree with it. So she _would_ work on the speech patterns she had grown up with, because he _wanted_ her to.

'Better,' he drawled, swinging his cane to his side once again and starting for the staircase. 'I will be leaving in a few hours to take care of something that needs my attention. I will expect you to be here whence I return, Cali. For now you may keep an eye on the camera feed I have of Strange's office, though I have suspicions he has relocated'. That smug, arrogant smile twitched onto his lips.

'I _may _keep an eye on it?' Cali said sarcastically, dropping onto the chair Riddler had vacated. 'And...c'mon- fine, _come on. _I'm capable of leaving this place if I want to, Edward. I would have just gone to Harley if I had known you were going to lock me away and throw away the key again'. _Again. _It always happened like this. He wouldn't let her leave by herself, not unless she was invited to go outside with him. He would threaten to never let her come back, to hurt Harley with one of his riddles - anything to make sure she was kept far away from the outside world.

But, even so, if they were ever separated Cali would always come back to him. And he _knew_ it.

Cali didn't care much about the creation of chaos, unlike her sister. She wasn't even bothered about riddles or solving things like Edward was. She just _liked _the criminal lifestyle. She liked the hiding and the running and that look, that _one_ look that would appear on Edward's face when she had done something right, when she'd _pleased _him.

The Docs would say that she had thirst to prove herself. That she wanted to show them that she could be everything her mother had hated, just like Harley had become. Like Harley, they would say, she had a complete disregard for human life and an intelligence that was well hidden, simmering beneath the surface and used as a weapon when needed. But Cali didn't _care _about that.

At first this lifestyle had been a good hiding place away from the police because, obviously, she was a wanted murderer after what had happened with her mother. And Cali, who had grown up in a home that spat on the name of men and what they had done to her mother, had become so familiar with Riddler that she had just settled with such a lifestyle to be with him. And her impulses...they told her to stay with him, to do as he asked and to leap into any situation after him.

Sometimes, she wondered if that's how Harley felt.

Edward loomed above her, and it took her a moment to even remember what she had said to make that tight look appear on his face. _You dared to defy him, remember? _Right. Of course. The usual, then.

'You will _just _leave to join Harley and that _bumbling _idiot, will you? And when in this _impeccably _constructed plan do you even _begin _to consider the fact that you will not be _welcome, _hmm? Harley is your sister by blood, but her loyalty lies elsewhere, Little _Quinn'. _She turned away from him stubbornly, angered at his constant digs that he knew would get to her. She was used to comments such as that, and she refused to take the bait.

'It's flattering, Edward - that you want so desperately to keep me around'. The falsity in her voice sounded bitchy, even to her. But since the beginning of her deterioration of basic expected norms and values, Cali had begun to give up on any pretence in the way that she presented herself to others, Edward especially. It was probably why he hit her with his cane so much.

Sometimes, though, he liked to invade her personal space. He liked to push himself to her and grab at her, fingers clenching until skin dotted white. That's what he did then, cane dropping to the floor and palms landing with a _smack _against the arms of the chair. Cali knew he was strong. It was one of the things about him that she resented, so when he swung the chair she sat in around to face him, she retreated into it quickly. The glare on her face was her mask, her defence.

Riddler leaned forward, hands going to grab her own and pushing them tightly to the chair arms. _Don't get too close to me, _Cali thought desperately, trying to calm her slamming heart and keep her body as far away from his as she could. To him, this was a declaration of his dominance over her, to _hurt _her. To her, it was an excuse to get close to him. She was sick. Sick, sick, _sick._

'Your time away from me has rendered you incapable of showing _respect, __Quin_zel. Have you forgotten who I am? Have you, with you underdeveloped mind, forgotten who it is you are talking to?'

She never looks away from him, knowing that he would hate that. She remembers times when her sixteen year old self would turn away from him as he insulted and degraded her, only to have his rough hand grab her chin and force her to look into those _stupid _green eyes.

But they weren't stupid, of course. They could see _everything._

'Every time you come back to me I must remind you of who _I _am and who _you _are'. Yes, yes. Because all she is, is a mind to train, to obey. What is she, but a mind to give answers to questions she had never known, a project to teach to and to keep him company, to be a pet. A _dog._

Did he think that, or did she?

And, often, she played the part to _please _him, if anything.

'Riddle me _this-'_

But then there were those moments that she remembered she _liked_ being here, that she always came back. She wanted him to teach her, and she knew her mind wouldn't work how it did today without him picking her up those two years ago. He helped her and she helped him, no matter how much he hated to admit it. She wasn't _reliant _on him, she just _admired _and _respected _him.

His jaw is peppered with that grey stubble, and his hair is free of that hat that she _hates, _but only because she kind of likes the messy, brown hair underneath. Cali isn't a romantic, but she just _likes _his hair and thinks he should show it to her more often and, oh _God, _she sounds so unlike herself, it's ridiculous. He has thin lips, she notices, and behind those lips his straight teeth are clenched at her in a frustrated manner and his hands are curling around her wrists and his tie is leaning onto her lap-

He backs away suddenly, mouth closing into a tight line and the riddle he had been about to recite a forgotten thing. He looks, for one breath of a moment, startled.

Cali knows why. Her feet are pressed against the legs of her chair, allowing her to tilt forward, head raised, chest curved out only slightly toward him. She remembers, in those sparse few seconds before he had moved away, the feel of his breath on her face and his eyes on hers.

And then she's slamming herself back into the chair, mouth a little agape in mortification and, ho hey, she's actually showing the correct emotion when appropriate. 'I'll just get on with the surveillance stuff then, yeah?' She grabs onto the desk and swerves herself to face the computer, aware of him standing there with his body stiff.

He moves away, ready to go upstairs, and she's glad he says nothing.

Stupid, _stupid _impulses.

* * *

He leaves an hour later, and still no words are exchanged. It is only then that Cali feels _safe _enough to even think about her attempted...what? What had she attempted? When she had leant toward him, nothing about a kiss had even crossed her mind. She was never really...inclined to that sort of thing.

It had only been in the last year she'd even considered Riddler to be another _guy. _

But it was useless to think about it now. Childish and embarrassing as it were, she would just pretend that the mortifying _thing _had never happened.

That was best.

So, Cali continued to stare at Strange's office, noting how he never once entered the room. She wondered whether the Doctor knew that Edward had been watching him. Another unsurprising option would be if Edward had contacted the man himself and _told _him - it wasn't unheard of for the Riddler to brag about such things.

Growing bored, Cali swung her legs onto the table and clicked the right arrow on the keyboard, noting that she could now see the expanse of a large room with metal flooring. Still boring. She clicked the arrow again. A similar room. She clicked the arrow again-

'Son of a-'

The _asshole. _He'd been spying on her! On the screen before her was her cell that she'd been staying in for the past few months, now empty with her absence. Cali pushed herself away from the table, opting to the leave the live feed on the screen for Edward to find. Not that he would care. He'd probably find it _amusing._

The thought of him _watching _her all that time made her skin crawl. He'd seen her private moments, he'd seen her trace her fingers against the wall and mumble to herself about stupid, unimportant things.

She wondered where he was, as she climbed the stairs to enter the shared bedroom. It wasn't the first time they'd been forced to share such close accommodation, so Cali took the liberty of dragging the dingy mattress that looked as if it had not been slept on as far away as she could from the one that looked to be Riddler's.

She sat on it for a moment, blurred thoughts of her own stupidity bubbling to the surface of her mind. Her Docs said that her explosive anger usually stemmed from hatred at deeds done by herself. She remembers, after shoving a knife into her Ma's back, that she'd cut up her own hands pretty bad while trying to wipe away the blood. She still had the scars, but the cuts had made her angry. So, she'd cut the sofa up 'till stuffing rained over the room, then she'd smashed the window with the knife and ran out of there as quickly as she could.

She knows that her anger, right then, was because she'd shown Riddler some stupid weakness. _Self hatred at her own actions, _the Docs would say. _Is it because it's something that Riddler wouldn't like, Cali? Is that why you're angry? __  
_

She was angry because she'd done something he would hate. He'd hate the show of emotion, something akin to affection that she hadn't even _meant. _

'Stupid, stupid, _stupid'. _What if he kicked her out for good? Maybe he'd gone to get Harley now - to get her sister to drag her out of here. Maybe he'd gone to get Crane's gas as a punishment. Maybe he'd decided to just _leave _her. Cali stomped her foot against the ground, grunting angrily. '_Stupid girl,' _she admonished herself, but in her mind she sounded just like Edward.

It could have been ten minutes or a whole hour, but when she finally becomes aware of her breathing and the _throbbing _in her foot, Cali realized she'd kicked a hole in the wall.

* * *

She's still sitting on her mattress when footsteps echo around the downstairs, but her back is now pressed against the wall. Cali can hear him muttering to himself, though she likes the sound of someone else near her. Most of her nights at the Arkham cells were filled with screams of the _too _insane, and although she is well aware that Edward Nigma is as insane as they get, as least she can have a _conversation _with him.

His boot clad form steps into the room some time later. His question mark jacket is off, which means that the sleeves of his white shirt have been pushed up to his elbows. She knows this image of him - it means he's been leaning over the computer again.

He stops, eyeing her with a bland look on his face. 'Tomorrow, you will be more useful. Today was an exception'. She knows that, realizes that she has more to do that watch Strange's empty office and try to suck on Riddler's face.

'I kicked a hole in the wall'.

Edward looks.

'So you have'.

'Sorry'.

'You have apologised for many things, Cali. I am beginning to think that you often do not mean what you say'. He stuffs his gloves into one pocket and stands by the doorway. 'What you did earlier - that cannot happen again'.

Cali's stomach falls in the most peculiar way. 'I don't know what you mean'. Her stomach is clenching again and, honestly, she doesn't want to freak out in front of Riddler. She doesn't want him to think that she can't keep a level head. Anyway, what would he expect from someone with various anger issues and impulse problems? The two didn't mix well.

Riddler considered her for a moment. 'You are but a child,' he sighs, reaching up a hand to flick off the light. Cali glowers, _hating _the idea of her being _nothing _but a child to him. She had shown him so many time that she is _not a child. _

She says nothing, though. Only stared politely back at him until the light flipped off and the grey hue from the light outside filled the room. Arkham City was always loud, she realized, and always full of shouts and shots and noises of the night. She listens to Edward settle on top of his covers, knowing that if she were to wake up in an hour he would already be gone.

A child.

Cali Quinzel was no mere _child _to him, and she knew it.

* * *

**Chapter two! Thanks you for the two reviews I've received! If you don't like Cali's character, I do understand. She isn't meant to be likeable, she's meant to be an indecisive girl without who doesn't really know her own mind. I really, really hope I'm keeping Riddler in character. I've never written him before, so it's hard to think like him and present him.  
**

**scribblescribblescribble - I do realize it looks as if, in the first chapter, that Cali looks up to him a little too much. In this chapter, I've tried to show how she doesn't really know how to think of him. I've made her young on purpose, but thank you for pointing out that problem. It will be a challenge to show her character and make sure she is not based on her age. Thank you!**

**Bat-teen 28 - Thank you very much! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**


	3. All My Rage

Takes_ place after **Asylum **but just before the events in **City. **Don't expect facts to be dead on, although I did do a fair bit of research. _

* * *

**Farewell**** To The Fairground **

**Chapter Three:**

_**All My Rage**_

* * *

_Is this the devil having fun?_  
_I'd tip my cap to the raging sun_  
_Now all my rage been gone_

All My Rage - Laura Marling

* * *

She wants to tell him that maybe he should stop wasting his time on Batman, and maybe focus on how he's presenting himself to the rest of the Rogues and to Arkham City itself. Cali knows that no one would dare cross Riddler, but that doesn't mean they don't think he's wasting his time.

She knows they wouldn't dare cross him because the Riddler is, perhaps, one of the most scarily _insane _of all of the criminals Cali has met. She didn't think so at first. If anything, she'd thought that maybe it was what he _did _that made him seem insane, that he was just too intelligent for others to understand his intentions.

She remembers seeing him mutter to himself, she remembers nights of hearing various hostages screaming. She didn't care for them because it was her duty, sometimes, to help in torturing information out of them or testing traps on them. What she cared about was that Riddler was not a feed of sanity to her, but a twisted medicine of insanity that he fed to her on a daily basis.

Cali's seen his cell, back at Arkham. She's seen the green footprints and question marks and riddles that litter the crumbling walls. She knows what he is, but she's the same as him. Who is she to judge?

Riddler is a genius, yes, but sometimes she has to remind herself that he's a twisted mess too. She forgets stuff like that sometimes, but only because she's so used to being in the company of the unhinged. She's grown too familiar with it - grown to be a part of it.

'I want to see Harley,' she tells him. He'd ordered her to take apart the Riddler trophy bit by bit, telling her that it will help her understand and use that _head _of hers. 'You've been lying in that cell for far too long, doing _nothing,' _he had drawled, shirt sleeves pushed up to his elbows and fingers hovering over the keyboard.

'Yeah,' Cali had muttered, yanking away a small piece of equipment that helps the trophy glow. 'You'd _know'._

He'd smirked at that, but now he half turned his head to her, the outline of his face illuminated by the computer screen. 'I tire _utterly_ of repeating myself, Quinn, do you not feel the same?' _Quinzel, _she wants to tell him. _Not Quinn._

Cali settled the trophy onto the table she'd been sitting at, careful to not jolt any of the smaller pieces out of the contraption. 'I've found that repeating myself _sometimes_ results in me getting my own way'. She looked up at him, a bright smile on her face.

'Not in this situation'. He turned away from her.

Cali clenched her jaw. 'Despite the _popular _opinion, Edward, that I am _made _to do everything that you ask of me, that doesn't apply to _personal _matters. My sister is a personal matter. I want to see her'. _  
_

'I can't imagine _why _you would want to see her. Quinn's mere presence lowers the IQ of the whole room. You are treading on thin ice - stop while you're ahead'.

Cali can't even muster up the strength to be angry at that comment. '_Edward, please'. _

* * *

_She'd torn out of the flat minutes ago, pushing her way through the loiterers of the Narrows. If her _damn _neighbour hadn't been so nosy, then _maybe _she'd have made it out of the flat without anyone catching her, literally, red handed. The neighbour had already called the cops, saying that the noise had worried her. After seeing Cali's Ma's dead body, she'd _really _started to worry._

_Cali was already halfway down the hallway at that point._

_Where the hell was she meant to go now? She hadn't seen Harley in ages - not that she could take Cali in, she was locked away in Arkham. Typical._

_It is then that Cali barges into a figure that sends her tumbling to the ground. The figure - male - grunts, the objects that he is holding tumbling to the floor in a scatter. Cali groans, scrambling to her feet and going to pick up the unlabelled cannisters, heart hammering as the sound of police sirens fill the air. _

_The man who she had bumped into, a brown haired guy, looks equally put off by the sound. 'Moron,' he grunts at her, snatching the cannisters from her. He looks to have just exited the warehouse on the right. 'Shaved ape-'_

_Cali knows who he is straight away - the civilian clothing doesn't hide the face that she had seen printed in Newspapers, sometimes next to her sister. 'Help me,' she cuts across him. He narrows his eyes at her. 'I'm Harley Quinn's sister. You're the Riddler, right?'_

_He considers her suddenly, studying her face. She knows he can see it - her Ma had always hated how much Cali looked like Harleen. _

_'I'm in trouble, and those cops are gonna be rounding that corner any second now. If they catch me, I _might_ just let slip who I saw here. If you help me, we'll both be gone, and I won't be able to say anything'. He almost looks amused at her little threat, and Cali feels dirty for even saying the words. 'You're name's Edward, right?'_

_'It is'._

_'Edward, _please_'__._

_Apparently, mere manners was all it took._

_Or the blackmail._

* * *

'You do not know the City well enough to go gallivanting by yourself. What if some goons were to corner you? What would you do? _Kick them _like you did that wall?' He isn't looking at her, but he's stopped typing.

Cali becomes defensive immediately. 'I was angry! You _know _I can't-'

'Ah, yes. The infamous anger that will become your greatest weakness. Unless, of course, it already is._ I_ vouch for the latter-'

'Are you kidding me? _You_ get angry at the _stupidest _things-'

He turns sharply, voice a calm drawl. 'If you are trying to insinuate that I have any _kind _of weakness, you had better _stop talking. I _maintain an envious control over my emotions, unlike _you. _When you return here, bleeding and broken, you will wish you had listened to me - better to start now, hmm?'

_You are but a child._

Cali narrowed her eyes only briefly, but then let a slow, languid smile form across her features. 'Okay, then'. And then with careful hands, she had returned to the task of analysing Riddler's (excellent, he had said. _Sublime) _trophy. It was one of the simpler things she had been forced to take notes on.

There's a pause, then the sound of the chair creaking as he turns away once again. 'Good'. Cali cringes. She will often think of his voice as unique - a complete blend arrogance and smugness all rolled into one annoying drawl. Other time, she thinks everything he says sounds like he's reciting it from a book - she likes it when it sounds like that.

They fall back into a silence that, like all of their silences, is broken by Cali. 'Can I just ask...why _do you_ keep me locked away?' She has to keep reminding herself to pronounce things properly. No _d'you_'s allowed. She almost regretted the way in which she worded it.

The tapping on the keyboard stops. The room basks in silence once again. 'Riddle me this,' he said quietly. 'I make you weak at the worst of all times. I keep you _safe_, I keep you fine. I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold. I visit the weak, but seldom the bold'.

Cali was baffled by the quiet way in which he spoke. There had been few occasions where Edward would utter any words with any semblance of...fondness in them. But as he spoke, right then, he sounded almost _sad_.

She stilled, trying desperately to find the answer to his riddle and to her question. Safe and fine, but weak. Sweating and a cold heart, made for the weak and not for the bold. Cowardice? No. That wouldn't make any sense at all. What _was _it? Not only could she not find the answer she wanted, but she'd _disappointed _him.

'I don't know,' she uttered, quite frustrated. How could she not _know_? 'I can't think of the answer'.

'Unsurprising'. He didn't sound half as angry as he usually would have, Cali noted.

_Jerk. _

'Is there-'

'I am _working'._

_You are but a child. _And so he reprimands her like one. _You're more level headed than Harley ever was. More independent, wiser...a _lot _less annoying. Act like it, Cali._

She says nothing, but gives up on the task of taking part the trophy, and murmurs, 'I'm done', whilst making her way up to the bedroom, where she spies out a can of Arkham labelled soup. 'I thought I'd escaped you,' Cali mutters wryly, but sips from the can anyway. She's glad for something to fill the hollowness of her stomach.

_I visit the weak, but seldom the bold._

Cali decides she's going to have to find a gun. Harley'd - Harley _had _always preferred a baseball bat or something that you could hold on to, but Cali likes the aiming and the pressure of pulling a trigger. She'd find one, somewhere. She would need clothes, too. She'd never felt more like Riddler's personal Harley Quinn than when she was wearing one of his old jackets.

She _refused _for them to have matching outfits.

She continues sipping at the soup, all the while wondering what was going to happen. What was Strange planning? Hell, what was _Joker _planning? Maybe if she got to Harley, the older woman could tell her _something._

No. No, Harley...she stopped trusting Cali when she started trusting Joker.

Cali knows she's trying to convince herself into thinking that's the only reason she wants to see her sister, but she knows that she just plain misses her company. They never really get to see each other, but Harley was someone that Cali likes. She's in that tight knit circle of people that Cali would, if they were in trouble, go and help.

No one else really mattered.

_The infamous anger that will become your greatest weakness._

* * *

_Her Ma throws the Coke can at the TV, hovering in front of it with her bag thrown over one shoulder and lipstick smudging her teeth. She'd been out for the night, seeing to her customers. She'd only started doing that when Harley had gone and a large portion of their income stopped. Now, though, she's back and she's picking at the mess that Cali had made in her absence._

_A single can of Coke being the mess._

_On the television, there is a broadcast telling of the recently caught Joker and Harley Quinn. Last night, the reporter tells, they had been caught trying to lure Batman to the top of a building with ten hostages and a hefty bomb. _

_'She's _ruined _this family!' her Ma screeches, black rimmed eyes staring at the TV as she shakes her head. 'We had a _Doctor _in the family, then she goes all loopy and falls in love with that maniac!'_

_Cali is standing near her bedroom doorway, hovering with her fists clenched and her eyes closed tight._ Breathe._ 'What does it matter, Ma?' she asks, opening her eyes and glaring. 'She's gone now, ain't she?' _Left me all alone with you, _Cali thinks bitterly. _Left me with the mess that is our Ma. _Cali stopped idolising her sister when Harley started getting sadder and sadder. Now...now she's just angry at Harley...angry all the time._

_'You'll turn out just like her,' her Ma grunts, kicking off her heels as she looks out of the window. 'Just like that whore. You even look like her, don't ya? Which one of those Rogues will you spread your legs for, huh? When will you_ fuck off _as well? You're just like _her-'

_She doesn't hear Cali walking to the kitchen. Doesn't hear the draw open and the clang and slither of metal against metal. Cali's quick about, her footsteps muffled by the soft carpet beneath her feet._

_Her Ma gasps, breath choked out of her like air out of a balloon. Her eyes are still fixed on that window, still looking out at the smoke rising from the streets of Gotham, of the Narrows. Cali, jaw clenched, lets go of the knife and lets her Ma grab for the wall, still choking._

_There's a knocking at the door and a voice that calls, 'Mrs Quinn, are you alright? I heard shouting and banging, I called the police. Mrs Quinn?'_

_Cali looks down at her choking, whining mother. 'Please tell me you locked the door, Ma'._

_She hadn't._

* * *

Cali smirked and dropped the empty can to the floor. That anger, that all consuming _rage _that clenched at her sometimes...it already _was_ her weakness. And where would she be without it? Her mother would still be alive and she would have never found Riddler.

Weakness, he calls it. Cali...she thinks it's her only real strength.

'_Cali!'_

Cali closes her eyes. _Strength, _she reminds herself, opening her eyes and lifting herself off of the mattress. _Strength, remember?_

'What?' she asks, halfway down the stairs with her head poking around the corner. He's hovering over the dismantled trophy, the question mark discarded to the side whilst the small, metal screws and small gears are spread across the table. 'I finished it,' she cuts in quickly, to which Riddler sends her an exasperated look.

'You did not _fix _it after _dismantling _it'.

'You never said I had to do that-!'

'I am no-'

'_Inmates of Arkham City'. _The voice was resounding, echoing throughout the streets and rooms of Arkham City. Edward stopped short, straightening up and beckoning Cali over to him. She complied, both of them knowing who it was who spoke though various speakers dotted around the City. _Strange._ '_This night you will have various special..._guests _joining you behind your Arkham walls. And...a _somebody_ many of you may know. Bruce Wayne will be among the selected few entering your City'._ A pause, and Cali raises her brow in genuine surprise. Wayne. Last she'd heard, he was trying to shut down Arkham City. Well, there would be a hell of a lot of inmates excited to meet him, that was for sure._ 'That is all'._

She can already imagine the sly grins of various inmates as they prepare to _meet _Mister Wayne face to face. Heck, Cali almost felt _bad _for the guy. She eyed Riddler. 'You look happy,' she observed carefully.

And he did. His smugness was near _glowing _in the green light, and his half gloved fingers were clenched at his side. '_Think, _my dear, _think. _If Bruce Wayne and some other _poor _and _helpless _somebodies are coming into the City..._then who will come and save them?'_

She looks up at him, a wicked smile slashing across her features. 'Is everything ready for him?'

His mood swings were terrible, Cali knew. But when he was in a _good mood, _he glowed with arrogance and smugness - and Cali liked it like that. When he was in a good mood, he'd treat her more like she was a human being and less like she was a complete nuisance to him. 'I have been ready for _days_ but, alas, we do not yet have any hostages for Batman to save'.

'You need to tell me that plan,' she realizes. 'I don't know enough about what you've got planned for him, or _where _you're even putting these hostages'. He agrees with her on that whilst going to the computer and setting up the live feeds he has of these Riddle Rooms. 'And Edward? I _am _going to have to see Harley by the end of the night - to check if she's alright'.

His voice is a low murmur as he leans over the computer desk. 'I do wonder if she would do the same for you'.

Cali turns spiteful quite quickly, bristling at his constant digs at the rocky relationship between herself and her sister. Why did it _bother _him so much? 'Oh, but Edward,' she says sarcastically, leaning her back against the table and looking at him. He has one palm pressed against the table he is bent over, fingers fiddling with the mouse. 'I have _you _for that'.

He looks sideways at her, a brow cocked over his square rimmed glasses. 'Better to have me than Harley Quinn. She would not have the common sense to even _begin _to know where to look for you'.

He turns back to the screen and Cali stares, stumped.

_Fear, _she realizes. _The answer to the riddle was fear._

* * *

**Aaaaay. Firstly, the song at the start is by Laura Marling and _pleeeease _go and check her out. Her voice makes me so happy and calm - so lovely. Secondly, thank you for the reviews!**

**Vampire Solidarity1 - Thanks!**

**Sunlit Shadows - that is more than fine aha!**

**Amber - thank you so much! I'm pretty sure the one thing most fanfiction writers worry about is the portrayal of their canon characters, so thank you!**

**elbowwwo - I do recognise you! I thought people might get confused, but no this isn't a sequel. I just kinds started it at a point where they already knew each other, because I'm so used to writing it from the beginning and, I dunno, I felt like a change haha. So, I've started adding little flashbacks to keep it interesting! Thanks!**

**Akilina the Assassin - That's a pretty _nice_ way of describing Arkham City, let's be honest haha. Thank you very much, here's your update! **


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